page_title: A1 (Croatia)
section_title: Dalmatina
hierarchical_section_title: A1 (Croatia) / History / Dalmatina
caption_attribution_description: Hrvatski: Tunel Mala Kapela na autocesti A1, Hrvatska English: Mala Kapela Tunnel on A1 highway in Croatia
context_page_description: The A1 motorway is the longest motorway in Croatia, spanning 476.3 kilometers. As it connects the nation's capital Zagreb to the second largest city Split, the motorway represents a major north–south transportation corridor in Croatia and a significant part of the Adriatic–Ionian motorway. Apart from Zagreb and Split, the A1 motorway runs near a number of major Croatian cities, provides access to several national parks or nature parks, world heritage sites, and numerous resorts, especially along the Adriatic Coast. National significance of the motorway is reflected through its positive economic impact on the cities and towns it connects as well as its importance to tourism in Croatia.
  The motorway consists of two traffic lanes and an emergency lane in each driving direction separated by a central reservation. All intersections of the A1 motorway are grade separated. As the route traverses rugged mountainous and coastal terrain, it has required 376 bridges, viaducts, tunnels and other similar structures in sections completed as of 2014, including the two longest tunnels in Croatia and two bridges comprising spans of 200 meters or more.
context_section_description: In the beginning of the 1990s, construction of the motorway was further postponed because of onset of the Croatian War of Independence. The decade saw renewed discussion regarding construction of the motorway, including renewed considerations of its route. Soon, the originally devised route running through Bihać was set aside and two new routes were considered: One of them was a modified version of the original route, bypassing Bihać and running through the Plitvice Lakes region while the other was a completely new route further to the west via Gospić and Zadar, which was eventually accepted for construction. Both of the alternative routes proposed that the Zagreb–Karlovac motorway already completed in 1972 were to be used as the northernmost section of the Zagreb–Split and Zagreb–Rijeka motorways.
  The A1 was a showpiece project of the Croatian government and a symbol of uniting the country. The first attempt to revive the project in earnest occurred in the 1993, when the excavation of Sveti Rok Tunnel began. More comprehensive construction work started in 2000 and Karlovac–Vukova Gorica section opened in 2001. In 2003, the first sections not shared with the Zagreb–Rijeka Motorway were completed: Vukova Gorica–Mala Kapela Tunnel and Gornja Ploča–Zadar 2. Mala Kapela Tunnel–Gornja Ploča, Zadar 2–Pirovac and Vrpolje–Dugopolje sections opened in 2004 and Mala Kapela Tunnel itself and Pirovac–Vrpolje section opened in 2005 marking completion of the Zagreb–Split Motorway, culminating with the grand opening of Karlovac — Split section on 26 June 2005.
  Construction of the motorway along its Split–Dubrovnik sector started once the motorway sectors north of Split were complete, and the section between Split (Dugopolje interchange) and Šestanovac interchange opened on 27 June 2007. The last sections to be completed to date are Šestanovac–Ravča, opened on 22 December 2008, Ravča-Vrgorac section opened on 30 June 2011, and the Vrgorac-Ploče section opened on 20 December 2013. In the 2000s, as the motorway construction works were gradually progressing further south, the motorway earned its unofficial, yet widely used name—Dalmatina in Croatian press because it connected Zagreb to Dalmatia. In 2010, Donja Zdenčina interchange was opened between Lučko and Jastrebarsko interchanges, and in June 2012, Novigrad interchange opened bringing number of motorway exits to 33.
caption: Mala Kapela Tunnel, prior to opening of the 2nd tunnel tube
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